Can someone tell me which dark leafy greens can be grown this time of year? I had planted spinach and kale, but then someone told me this is the wrong time to plant those in the zone because they are cole vegetables. I'm in Orange County, Southern California. I read stuff online that said the same. So I pulled them up, and I planted arugula, mustard greens and butter lettuce. Are those okay? I really want the dark leafy greens.

Welcome to OG, MissMel!

I take it you are a lot hotter there than I am here already, and I just hit 80º today. So, unfortunately, there isn't much in the way of greens you can grow in heat, except for Swiss chard, in my experience. Most lettuces will eventually bolt, though there was a new one I got last year - a red oakleaf, Bughatti - which never bolted last summer, even the one I left in as a test. just keep an eye out for that seed stalk forming, and yank them before they turn very bitter.

I had a fantastic new green last fall - komatsuna, or mustard spinach - and it's growing great, but this is the first spring I have grown it, and I have a feeling it will not be heat resistant, being it is another brassica. It was huge last fall, however, and was tender, even the stems, and even when over 3' in diameter, and it took a 22º freeze to kill it!

Swiss chard usually grows through my summers, though last year's record heat slowed it to a halt. However, it came back, once the temps got down in the 80's, instead of mid-90's, and the same plants produced well into fall. Definitely my favorite green, if I had to choose, as it grows in hot and cold, and you can keep cutting it and it comes back.

Dave

I think New Zealand spinach is a little bit more heat tolerant, but those LA summers are going to be lethal to greens. Have you thought about constructing a shade cloth to cover your garden?

M

or stick an old umbrella over some!

And no reason to pull stuff out...if it dies it dies, if it looks like it is going to bolt, eat it.

(if anyone mentions that you are growing stuff just to kill it..say you want to improve your compost pile!)

I would imagine dandelion greens would grow most anywhere they seem to do fine here in the heat of summer. I have no idea what they taste like, but the rabbits love them.

anddigitalis, I haven't seen dandelion seeds around nor dandelions in the nursery, otherwise I would definitely buy some. Dandelions are really good for you.
alaskan, I like your idea about keeping them and eating them before they bolt. I may spare some just for that purpose.
maggie, I'm doing the garden by myself, and I don't know how to construct a cover, but I guess it's something to keep in mind.
Thanks to all of you for your input.

Hi Miss Mel - I live in San Diego and second the Swiss Chard vote. It's delicious and should survive any heat OC can dish out. If you can't find plants, direct-sown seeds will germinate easily.

Mine lasted 3 years, before I just got tired of where it was, so I moved it.

I also let some beets go to rot and harvest just the leafy tops during the summer. They're too thick to eat raw, but are great sauteed.

Good luck!

cocoabee, Today I bought organic swiss chard seeds and planted them. I'm very excited. If they grow in SD this time of year, I'm sure they will grow here, too. Thanks!Oh... and I LOVE beet greens. I make green smoothies everymorning. In other words, I make a fruit smoothie, for instance with banana and pear. Then I add a dark, leafy green. I recently added fresh, organic beet greens. That was the best green smoothie I had in a long time!

Here's an update on those komatsuna - They are growing great, and Baker's Creek's catalog says they are heat resistant, for Asian greens, though this still doesn't mean they will grow like swiss chard in the heat of summer. Here is a photo of komatsuna just under a month old! I took it from a distance, to show the size compared to my lettuce and bok choy - absolutely incredible! I also found that it is delicious raw, as well, even the huge leaves, with a mild, not overly bitter flavor. And, as with swiss chard, you can keep harvesting it around the perimeter, and it just keeps growing up through the center.

Dave

I can send you some dandelion seeds when mine go to seed if you want.

That would be great, Wrennie!

OK, some are going to seed now. Email me your address to thewrensnest1 at netzero dot com and I'll get some out to you in tomorrows mail.

Done! Thanks!

Green smoothies. I will have to try that at least once. Can't taste any worse than black squid ink ravioli!